Victoria Upson thought finding a nursing job would be a piece of cake.

She has an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Bowdoin College in Maine and now attends a master’s program at Northeastern University.

“I’d heard about the nursing shortage. I’d heard about the good pay, the schedule and great job mobility,” she said.

Then Upson heard from her professors in October that many hospitals had instituted hiring freezes.

Northeastern expects students to work for six to nine months before returning to the Master of Arts program in September, and Upson said almost all of her 30 classmates are having trouble finding work. Upson said if she doesn’t find a job soon, she may have to delay completion of her master’s degree.

Nursing tops current lists of recession-proof jobs in magazines such Forbes and Time. The need for nurses is expected to grow nationwide as baby boomers age and require more care. And in Massachusetts, lawmakers have refiled a bill, narrowly defeated last year, that would swell the ranks of nurses by requiring hospitals to maintain stringent nurse-to-patient ratios.

But even as the medical community urges universities to boost the number of graduates churned out annually — about 2,300 nurses graduate per year in the Bay State — nurses like Upson are facing economic pressures that defy conventional wisdom.

While Upson said for now she will continue to look for work in her chosen specialty — pediatric psychology — many of her fellow classmates are casting wider nets to find jobs.

Kim Dunham said she applied to all the Boston teaching hospitals, and then the community hospitals. After about six months, she found a job at Kindred Hospital North Shore, a 44-bed long-term care facility in Peabody. She said it’s ironic that it was so tough for her and her fellow Salem State College graduates to find jobs, given the program was funded in part by a state grant designed to increase the number of nurses in the commonwealth.

The Dana Farber Cancer Institute is one hospital that is hiring nurses — about 20 of them. But like many of the jobs that are available, candidates must have specialized experience.

New England Baptist Hospital needs 11 experienced nurses, but the hospital is also offering five jobs set aside for new graduates.

“The training is expensive, but we feel we have a responsibility to new nurses who are coming out of school, and there is not a job for them,” said Linda Thompson, vice president of human resources for New England Baptist Hospital.

She has already received 250 applications for those five spots.

The economy is also affecting the nursing sector in several other ways. For instance, Carol Malia, associate director in the MNA’s nursing division, said that while nurses generally shop around for the best salaries, no one wants to make a jump right now.

“People are afraid of layoffs. They don’t want to go to a new hospital where they would lose their seniority, and therefore may be the first one to be cut,” she said.

For years, one of the factors keeping nursing atop most of the recession-proof job lists is the aging of the nursing workforce. But with the soured economy, analysts say, some nurses nearing retirement may put off that decision for a few extra years.

Judith Shindul-Rothschild, an associate professor of nursing at Boston College, said this year’s crop of nursing graduates is the biggest ever — 71 students. She said the growing class size is directly related to the economy.

“BC now costs almost $50,000 per year, students want to know not just that they are getting a great education, but that they are going to have a well-paying job when they emerge into the real world,” Shindul-Rothschild said.

On average, a newly minted nurse working at a Boston hospital makes $50,000 starting out, and many experienced nurses make upwards of $100,000.

Nurse educators stress that there are still jobs available — many at long-term care facilities, veterans hospitals and local health clinics. But the pay and working conditions are often less attractive than working at a teaching hospital.

Most observers agree that the current conditions won’t last long.

“Every labor forecast says the demand for nurses long term remains critical,” Shindul-Rothschild said. “There just may be a short-term mismatch between supply and demand.”

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